Tim Winton:

Well at the simplest level, I’ve heard people give testimony about what it’s like to live in the shadow of a coal terminal, or what it feels like to take tourists out to a coral reef every day when it’s dying before your eyes. And I’ve seen that most basic kind of storytelling move some decision makers to change tack. I’ve had to go to the halls of Parliament and tell personal stories myself – simply in order to make an issue real to politicians and advisers. It liberates an problem from abstraction – a personal story is more powerful than you sometimes imagine.

Yes, storytelling can create practical change.

thinkpurpose blog:

The essence of an organisational detox is to remove the toxins of the noise generated by the operation of a normal ordinary command and control organisations, and replace it with the simple clear signal of knowledge of what is actually happening.

It’s said with tongue-in-cheek, but there are some great ideas here.

Bruce Boyes, writing for RealKM:

Increasingly, the stories of people in organisations that have undergone change are being studied to help understand how change management can be done better.

Yes–stories are central to understanding organisational change.

The paper referenced in the article¹ is also great read.

Creativity as Rehearsal

I’ll circle back to this and write a longer piece about my own, recent experiences learning improv and playback theatre. In the meantime, here’s a great video showing how we can use the ideas of improv to support creativity and change.

Via Johnnie Moore.

Mary Alice Arthur:

It is a powerful experience to engage in someone’s story. Actually it happens naturally. When we get “hooked” into someone’s story, the brain of the storyteller and of the audience light up in a similar way. The brain also releases coritsol and oxytosin, powerful hormones which stimulate the sense of community and sharing amongst us. We literally get a high from stories that engage us..

This is why I love working with stories so much. After stories are shared, something in a group changes and everyone feels it.